An undated but clearly recent page at the National Wildlife Federation breathlessly warns readers, in a section entitled "Threats from Global Warming," that "Lake Erie water levels, already below average, could drop 4-5 feet by the end of this century, significantly altering shoreline habitat." A Thursday Huffington Post Canada Business entry observed that "the (Great Lakes) basin has experienced the longest extended period of lower water levels since the U.S. and Canada began tracking levels in 1918." Of course, it's because of "climate change."
Friday, Julie Bosman at the New York Times reported (HT Powerline) that "The International Joint Commission, a group with members from the United States and Canada that advises on water resources, completed a five-year study in April 2013 concluding that water levels in the lakes were likely to drop even farther, in part because of the lack of precipitation in recent years brought on by climate change." But the reason Bosman was on the story is because — fortunately for area residents, but unfortunately for "startled" global warming adherents claiming to be "scientists" — Great Lakes sea levels are rising again (bolds are mine throughout this post):
Creeping Up on Unsuspecting Shores: The Great Lakes, in a Welcome Turnaround
... after reaching historic lows in 2013, water levels in the Great Lakes are now abruptly on the rise, a development that has startled scientists and thrilled just about everybody with a stake in the waterfront, including owners of beach houses, retailers in tourist areas and dockmasters who run marinas on the lakeshore.
Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior are at least a foot higher than they were a year ago, and are expected to rise three more inches over the next month. Lake Ontario and Lake Erie are seven to nine inches higher than a year ago.
... Scientists say the reversal of fortunes for the lakes is partly a result of the most bone-chilling winter in memory for many Midwesterners. The thick and long-lasting ice cover on the lakes kept the water colder and slowed evaporation. Heavy snowfall and a rainy spring allowed the lakes to make even more gains.
“We’ve had a rebound that we haven’t seen in many, many years,” said Gene Clark, a coastal engineer with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute in Superior, Wis. “We’ve been historically below average, and now we are finally back to above-average water levels. At this time last year, I was talking to Wisconsin state legislators about what was happening, why the levels were so low and what could the State of Wisconsin do about it. It was very much a crisis.”
Actually, Mr. Clark, what has occurred demonstrates that it wasn't a crisis. It was part of natural cycles over which man has no meaningful influence or control.
One Powerline commenter noted something consistent with my memories of the late 1960s, namely that people at the time were also worried about low lake levels:
I live not far from Lake Huron, and I recall that water levels the last decade or so have been the lowest since the 1960s. Climate change is the all-purpose whipping boy, but that doesn't explain why they were so low in the 60s. Cyclical issues seem to be the easier answer, but you don't get as much grant money for cyclical issues.
Bingo.
Deliberately ignoring history, or changing it to fit the agenda, has been standard operating procedure for the global warming-climate change-climate disruption proponents for decades. President Obama, the Environmental Protection Agency, and leftist politicians ridicule as "deniers" those who oppose their statist agenda by presenting pesky things known as facts, while the press generally cheers them on.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
